A Nocturnal Upon St Lucy's Day, Being the Shortest Day by John Donne

Context

• A Nocturnal Upon St Lucy's Day, Being the Shortest Day by John Donne was written during the early 17th century, a time marked by profound religious and philosophical exploration.

• The poem reflects the metaphysical poets' tendency to merge intellectual rigour with deep emotional expression, often through intricate metaphors and conceits.

  

• St Lucy's Day, traditionally celebrated on December 13th, was associated with light and was one of the shortest days of the year in the Julian calendar, symbolising darkness and loss.

• Donne's poem is imbued with personal grief, likely linked to the death of his wife, Anne More, in 1617, and it contemplates themes of love, death, and renewal.

Structure and Form

Form, Meter, and Rhyme

• The poem is composed of 45 lines, arranged in a single continuous stanza.
• The rhyme scheme is irregular, contributing to the poem's meditative and reflective tone.
• The meter predominantly follows iambic pentameter, although it varies to enhance the poem's emotional intensity and thematic complexity.

Speaker and Setting

• The speaker is a mourner reflecting on the death of a beloved, possibly Donne himself mourning his wife.
• The setting is a symbolic, metaphysical space where the natural world mirrors the speaker's inner desolation and the theme of the shortest day emphasises the pervasive sense of darkness and loss.

Poetic Devices

• Conceit**:** The central conceit is the comparison of the shortest day of the year to the deepest point of personal and emotional darkness.

• The poem transforms this day into a metaphor for ultimate desolation and the process of renewal through profound grief.

• Metaphor**:** The poem is rich in metaphors, such as "year's midnight" and "the sun is spent", symbolising the nadir of time and light.

• Allusion**:** The poem alludes to alchemical processes, comparing the transformation of grief into a new understanding to the alchemical quest for purification.

• For instance, "In whom Love wrought new alchemy" refers to love's power to transform the speaker's grief.

• Personification**:** Various elements of nature, such as the sun and the earth, are personified to enhance the themes of decay and renewal.

• The sun's "flasks" sending forth "light squibs" personifies its diminished power.

• Paradox**:** The speaker describes himself as "every dead thing", highlighting the paradoxical nature of being alive yet feeling completely devoid of life.

• Alliteration and Assonance: The use of alliteration and assonance enhances the musicality of the poem, supporting its reflective and mournful tone.

• Enjambment and Caesura: The poem uses enjambment to create a flowing, contemplative rhythm and caesura to introduce pauses that reflect the speaker's meditative state.

Key Themes

Grief and Loss

"'Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's, / Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;" (Lines 1-2)

• The poem explores the profound sense of loss and mourning, using the metaphor of the shortest day to represent the speaker's deepest grief.

Transformation and Renewal

"For I am every dead thing, / In whom Love wrought new alchemy." (Lines 12-13)

• The poem contemplates the possibility of transformation through grief, likening the emotional process to alchemy, where base elements are purified into something valuable.

Isolation and Desolation

"The world's whole sap is sunk; / The general balm th' hydroptic earth hath drunk," (Lines 5-6)

• The speaker feels isolated in his grief, as the natural world around him mirrors his sense of desolation and emptiness.

The Passage of Time

"But I am none; nor will my sun renew." (Line 37)

• The poem reflects on the passage of time and the permanence of loss, suggesting that the speaker's sense of desolation will not be alleviated by the natural cycles of renewal.

Similar Poems

• **"**The Good Morrow" by John Donne: This poem explores themes of love and unity, using elaborate metaphors to discuss the nature of true love.
• "Holy Sonnet X: Death, Be Not Proud" by John Donne: This poem also grapples with themes of death and renewal, showcasing Donne's ability to merge personal emotion with broader metaphysical themes.
• "Elegy XIX: To His Mistress Going to Bed" by John Donne: Another exploration of love and loss, blending sensuality with metaphysical contemplation.

Line by Line Analysis

Lines 1-4

'Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's,

Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;

The sun is spent, and now his flasks

Send forth light squibs, no constant rays;

_"'_Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's,"

• The speaker begins by establishing a time of profound darkness, metaphorically describing the winter solstice as both the year's and the day's midnight.
• This imagery sets a sombre, reflective tone for the poem.

"Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;"

• St. Lucy's Day, associated with light, is ironically marked by very little daylight, emphasizing the poem's theme of darkness and loss.
• The use of "unmasks" personifies the day, suggesting it barely reveals itself.

"The sun is spent, and now his flasks"

• The sun is described as exhausted, with its "flasks" (a metaphor for its rays) depleted.
• This metaphor underscores the weak, diminishing light, symbolizing a sense of depletion and end.

"Send forth light squibs, no constant rays;"

• The sun's light is likened to "squibs", small, short-lived sparks, rather than steady beams.
• This image further highlights the transient, inadequate light, reinforcing the theme of darkness.

Lines 5-9

The world's whole sap is sunk;

The general balm th' hydroptic earth hath drunk,

Whither, as to the bed's feet, life is shrunk,

Dead and interr'd; yet all these seem to laugh,

Compar'd with me, who am their epitaph.

"The world's whole sap is sunk;"

• The speaker asserts that the vitality of the world has drained away, using "sap" as a metaphor for life force.
• This line conveys a profound sense of desolation and decay.

"The general balm th' hydroptic earth hath drunk,"

• The earth, described as "hydroptic" (swollen with fluid), has absorbed the general balm, a metaphor for healing or a life-giving substance.
• This description portrays the earth as saturated yet still lifeless, emphasizing a paradox of abundance and barrenness.

"Whither, as to the bed's feet, life is shrunk,"

• Life is depicted as having retreated to the farthest, least vital point, akin to the feet of a bed.
• This image suggests life's reduction to a minimal, almost dead state.

"Dead and interr'd; yet all these seem to laugh,"

• Despite the pervasive death and burial (interred) of life, these elements appear less desolate compared to the speaker's state.
• The idea of laughter amidst death introduces a bitter irony.

"Compar'd with me, who am their epitaph."

• The speaker identifies himself as the epitaph, a marker for the dead, indicating he embodies and commemorates this universal desolation.
• This self-identification underscores the depth of the speaker's grief and isolation.

Lines 10-13

Study me then, you who shall lovers be

At the next world, that is, at the next spring;

For I am every dead thing,

In whom Love wrought new alchemy.

"Study me then, you who shall lovers be / At the next world, that is, at the next spring;"

• The speaker addresses future lovers, urging them to learn from his experience of profound loss and transformation.
• "Next spring" symbolises renewal and rebirth, contrasting with the current state of death and decay.

"For I am every dead thing,"

• The speaker describes himself as embodying all dead things, highlighting his complete desolation and identification with death.
• This line emphasizes the speaker's total transformation through grief.

"In whom Love wrought new alchemy."

• Love has transformed the speaker through a metaphorical alchemical process.
• Alchemy here symbolizes a profound and mystical change, wrought by love's power.

Lines 14-18

For his art did express

A quintessence even from nothingness,

From dull privations, and lean emptiness;

He ruin'd me, and I am re-begot

Of absence, darkness, death: things which are not.

"For his art did express / A quintessence even from nothingness,"

• The speaker continues the alchemical metaphor, suggesting that Love's art distilled a pure essence from nothingness.
• "Quintessence" refers to the purest form of something, derived from emptiness.

"From dull privations, and lean emptiness;"

• The speaker's transformation involved distillation from privation (lack) and emptiness.
• These terms highlight the speaker's initial state of desolation and absence of vitality.

"He ruin'd me, and I am re-begot / Of absence, darkness, death: things which are not."

• Love has destroyed the speaker, but also reborn him from abstract, negative states.
• This rebirth from "things which are not" emphasizes the paradox of creation from absence.

Lines 19-22

All others, from all things, draw all that's good,

Life, soul, form, spirit, whence they being have;

I, by Love's limbec, am the grave

Of all that's nothing. Oft a flood

"All others, from all things, draw all that's good, / Life, soul, form, spirit, whence they being have;"

• The speaker contrasts his state with that of others, who derive goodness and life from everything.
• These lines describe a natural process of drawing vitality from the world.

"I, by Love's limbec, am the grave / Of all that's nothing."

• The speaker sees himself as a vessel for distilling nothingness through Love's alchemical process.
• "Limbec" refers to an alembic, a distilling apparatus, reinforcing the alchemical metaphor.

"Oft a flood"

• This phrase begins to describe the emotional overflow experienced by the speaker and his beloved.
• The image of a flood suggests overwhelming grief and tears.

Lines 23-27

Have we two wept, and so

Drown'd the whole world, us two; oft did we grow

To be two chaoses, when we did show

Care to aught else; and often absences

Withdrew our souls, and made us carcasses.

"Have we two wept, and so / Drown'd the whole world, us two;"

• The speaker and his beloved's tears are so abundant they metaphorically drown the world.
• This hyperbolic image underscores the depth of their shared grief.

"Oft did we grow / To be two chaoses, when we did show / Care to aught else;"

• Their intense emotions often turned them into "chaoses", embodying disorder and turmoil.
• This state arises when they pay attention to anything other than their grief.

"And often absences / Withdrew our souls, and made us carcasses."

• Absence and separation drained their vitality, leaving them as lifeless "carcasses".
• The image of carcasses emphasizes the sense of desolation and emptiness.

Lines 28-31

But I am by her death (which word wrongs her)

Of the first nothing the elixir grown;

Were I a man, that I were one

I needs must know; I should prefer,

"But I am by her death (which word wrongs her) / Of the first nothing the elixir grown;"

• The speaker acknowledges that his beloved's death has transformed him into an elixir, a distilled essence from "the first nothing."
• The parenthetical comment "which word wrongs her" indicates his difficulty accepting her death.

"Were I a man, that I were one / I needs must know;"

• The speaker questions his humanity, suggesting he has become something other than a man due to his grief.
• This self-reflection reveals his deep existential crisis.

"I should prefer,"

• This line sets up a hypothetical preference, leading into the next thought.

Lines 32-36

If I were any beast,

Some ends, some means; yea plants, yea stones detest,

And love; all, all some properties invest;

If I an ordinary nothing were,

As shadow, a light and body must be here.

"If I were any beast, / Some ends, some means;"

• The speaker imagines being any creature, all of which have purpose and function.
• This contrasts with his sense of purposelessness.

"Yea plants, yea stones detest, / And love; all, all some properties invest;"

• Even plants and stones can feel or possess attributes.
• This line emphasizes that all things have qualities or purposes, unlike the speaker.

"If I an ordinary nothing were, / As shadow, a light and body must be here."

• The speaker contemplates being an "ordinary nothing", akin to a shadow, which depends on the presence of light and body.
• This metaphor highlights his desire for a tangible existence.

Lines 37-40

But I am none; nor will my sun renew.

You lovers, for whose sake the lesser sun

At this time to the Goat is run

To fetch new lust, and give it you,

"But I am none; nor will my sun renew."

• The speaker declares that he is nothing and will not be renewed by the return of the sun.
• This line emphasizes his enduring sense of emptiness and despair.

"You lovers, for whose sake the lesser sun / At this time to the Goat is run"

• He addresses lovers who look forward to renewed passion, symbolized by the sun entering Capricorn ("the Goat").
• The "lesser sun" refers to the astrological movement that heralds change and renewal.

"To fetch new lust, and give it you,"

• The speaker acknowledges that this astrological change brings new desire and vitality to others.
• This contrasts with his continued desolation.

Lines 41-45

Enjoy your summer all;

Since she enjoys her long night's festival,

Let me prepare towards her, and let me call

This hour her vigil, and her eve, since this

Both the year's, and the day's deep midnight is.

"Enjoy your summer all; / Since she enjoys her long night's festival,"

• The speaker invites others to enjoy their summer while his beloved enjoys her eternal rest.
• "Long night's festival" refers to her death, seen as a perpetual night.

"Let me prepare towards her, and let me call / This hour her vigil, and her eve,"

• The speaker prepares to join his beloved, considering this moment as her vigil (a watch or period of wakefulness) and her eve.
• This line suggests his anticipation of reuniting with her in death.

"Since this / Both the year's, and the day's deep midnight is."

• The speaker concludes by reiterating the profound darkness of this time, symbolizing both the literal and metaphorical midnight of the year and day.
• This final line reinforces the theme of deep, pervasive darkness and the speaker's alignment with it.